June 23rd, 2005 issue #0425

The writing surface of the monument are panels of Buckingham slate supported by a simple concrete wall approximately fifty-five feet long and seven feet high. Standing in front of City Hall, it will contain two sections, one inscribed with the First Amendment and one a large chalkboard where people can write and erase messages. In front of the wall, a trench filled with chalky white gravel or crushed brick will provide the writing materials, and a podium will stand to one side.

Besides real estate and the latest DMB disc, one hot topic in town is provoking heated debate: the community chalkboard and monument to free speech. (Or as it has been formally titled, Charlottesville's Community Chalkboard and Podium: a monument to the First Amendment.) Paving its way are eight years of questions about what it will really do for the community– and to the community.